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This article aims to consider the transfer of public health responsibilities to Local Authorities, and implications for promotion of health and wellbeing through partnership. The article describes findings of interviews with stakeholders in one London borough.

Elements of the Partnership Assessment Tool (PAT) provided a framework for semi‐structured interviews.

A limited history of successful partnership between health and social care was attributed to a focus on partnership structures over behaviours. Transfer of public health responsibilities to the Local Authority was seen as an opportunity to address the wider determinants of health, but a shared vision for health and wellbeing had not been articulated. There appeared to be an expectation that the public health team would operate in a network partnership model.

While the PAT is presented as a complete tool, this project isolated elements of the tool to support development of the interview structure. The project did not include interviews with clinical members of the developing Clinical Commissioning Group, who may have different requirements of the public health function; this is an area for future research.

Recommendations are made to support effective integration of public health responsibilities into Local Authority functions.

This project provides a snapshot of preparations for the transfer of public health responsibilities to the Local Authority in one area. Relevant literature suggests that experiences in this area are not unique and findings and recommendations are likely to be applicable elsewhere.

Posits that collaboration in the UK is either recommended as good practice or enshrined within legislation as a necessity. Chronicles that there has been a sustained growth in the number of formal and informal collaborative relationships between state agencies and market, voluntary and community sectors, as well as within and between state agencies themselves. Uses illustrative case study materials drawn from the authors’ research and consultancy experiences, particularly in the areas of inner city community based mental health, urban regeneration, policing, and child and adolescent mental health. Concludes that research has extensively been drawn on to illustrate the dilemmas that regularly arise when attempting to implement this policy objective.

The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that characterise effective school‐community partnerships that support the sustainability of school health initiatives applied within a health‐promoting schools approach.

The study used an explanatory case study approach of five secondary schools participating in a health‐promoting school programme, “The Logan Healthy Schools Project” in Logan, South‐East Queensland, Australia to investigate how school‐community partnerships support the sustainability of school health initiatives. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 16 deputy principals, school staff members, and community‐based partners, along with observations and a documentary analysis of Logan Healthy School Project activities. A thematic analysis was conducted on the data.

The factors that characterise effective school‐community partnerships that support the sustainability of school health initiatives include: a focus on building relationships between school and community partners, complementary capacities of school personnel and service providers, commonality of intent and shared goals between both parties, and competence of practice, primarily of the community service provider. These four factors were consistent at the school operational level and strategic programme co‐ordination level of the Logan Healthy Schools Project, yet varied in importance across the initiation, growth, and maturity of the school‐community partnerships.

The study adds to the limited body of knowledge that surrounds effective school‐community partnerships and how the features of these partnerships contribute to the sustainability of school health initiatives. The study highlights the importance of initiating, growing, and maintaining school‐community partnerships and provides insight into the factors that should be considered when planning and developing school health promotion initiatives.

The purpose of this paper is to consider the effectiveness of partnership working in public health and draws on a systematic review of public health partnerships and original research conducted by the authors. It then considers in the light of research evidence whether the recently established Health and Wellbeing Boards (HWBs) under the 2012 Health and Social Care Act will help agencies to work together more effectively to improve population health or will go the way of previous initiatives and fall short of their original promise.

The paper is based on a systematic literature review conducted by the authors and empirical research focusing upon the ability of public health partnerships to reduce health inequalities and improve population health outcomes. It also draws on recent studies evaluating HWBs.

The paper finds that, hitherto, public health partnerships have had limited impact on improving population health and reducing health inequalities and that there is a danger that HWBs will follow the same path-dependent manner of previous partnership initiatives with limited impact in improving population health outcomes and reducing health inequalities.

The research draws on a systematic literature review and further scoping review of public health partnerships, in addition to empirical research conducted by the authors. It also reviews the current evidence base on HWBs. It is recognised that HWBs are in their early stages and have not as yet had the time to fulfil their role in service collaboration and integration.

The paper gives an overview of how and why public health partnerships in the past have not lived up to the expectations placed upon them. It then offers practical steps that HWBs need to take to take to ensure the mistakes of the past are not replicated in the future.

The research outlines how public health partnerships can operate in a more effective manner, to ensure a more seamless provision for service users. The paper then gives pointers as to how this can benefit HWBs and the wider community they serve.

The paper draws on a comprehensive research study of the effectiveness of public health partnerships on improving health outcomes and a systematic literature review. In addition, it also draws upon the current evidence base evaluating HWBs, to inform the discussion on their future prospects, in regard to partnership working in public health and promoting service integration.

The Scottish Parliament has recently formed Community Health Partnerships (CHPs), in which health and social care providers come together within a unified organisational framework. This paper aims to assess the extent to which employees identify with their profession and whether professional identity poses a significant barrier to multi‐disciplinary, inter‐organisational partnership.

The study adopted a mixed methodology approach. A survey of all CHP staff was conducted, four months after the CHP was created and obtained a 31 per cent response rate. Additionally, to obtain an in‐depth understanding of the partnership, 26 interviews were conducted with senior and middle level managers and professional representatives.

A strong professional identity in the health and social care context was evident while the partnership vision, in contrast, lacked clarity. Therefore under these circumstances individuals' sense of occupation has been heightened due to perceived attempts to erode their professional identity, and modifications to their sense of “self” have not been challenged by a strong partnership ethos.

Managers face a deep‐rooted cultural based challenge where individuals strongly identify with their profession rather than the ethos of the partnership, which impedes full integration. Managers have a “balancing act” of addressing structural and processual change within the integration agenda, without losing sight of the outcomes in terms of service delivery and improving health and wellbeing.

This paper examines the implications of a new major health policy change that aims to integrate health and social care. In addition, the study unravels the complex issue of professional identity in this context.

This paper aims to describe the context, process and findings of a qualitative review of Walsall Arts into Health Partnership, which is widely acknowledged to be one of the most progressive community‐based arts and health programmes in the UK.

The research adopted a multi‐method qualitative approach to gathering data, using a combination of documentary analysis and semi‐structured interviews and focus groups with a range of stakeholders.

The findings highlight a number of emerging themes categorised under four broad headings: impact of the Arts into Health work on health and wellbeing of the people of Walsall; effectiveness; key characteristics; and future development of the Arts into Health Partnership.

The research findings point to the value of community arts and health work and to the importance of a partnership approach. However, current debates regarding evaluation approaches within the field point to the need for clarification regarding values, the use of multiple methodologies and engagement with a diversity of stakeholders.

This paper provides an overview of the local and national arts and health policy contexts within which the review took place – shortly before a major restructuring of the health service; outlines the research methodology; presents and discusses the key findings, outlines recommendations; and discusses subsequent action and the impact of the research.

Partnerships have the potential to create significant benefits for all participants provided that there is a mutual understanding of and respect for the inputs required and the outputs sought from the arrangements by each party. The aim of this study was to explore the inputs required and the outputs achieved by partners as a function of the level of involvement required within the partnership arrangement. The study has investigated the extent to which the input criteria defined by the DTI and the output criteria defined by Kanter, within three health and safety initiatives involving homeworker‐employer, employee‐employer, and contractor‐employer partnerships varied, as a function of the level of partnership defined by Thompson and Sanders. The examination of the partnership arrangements within the three case studies demonstrated that the inputs were very similar whether the arrangements were classified as co‐operation, collaboration or coalescence, although the extent of the output criteria was greatest in the case of the coalescence partnership. The results illustrated the level of inputs required within a range of partnership arrangements in the context of health and safety management and the range of outputs that might be anticipated.

A vehicle to reduce health inequalities and improve public health has been provided by programmes at a neighbourhood level. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the development processes in four municipalities for achieving sustainable structures in area‐based development programmes during and after a formal partnership period.

A case‐study database was compiled based on the strategic and local work of four municipalities and four municipal housing companies who cooperated in the Partnership for Sustainable Welfare Development 2003‐2009. The case‐study database includes nine in‐depth studies with interviews (n=68), participant observations (n=125), a survey (n=1,160), and documents. The data are analysed using three theoretical concepts: political support, alliances, and citizen participation.

Political support, alliances, and citizen participation are important building blocks in neighbourhood development work. However, when the partnership ended there was little left that could function as a sustainable structure. Political support seems to be a means to reach the target, including ensuring a consistent approach and allocation of resources. However, the support must continue also after the intervention period, when the formal partnership collaboration ends, otherwise the established structure will soon decompose. Citizen participation is another precondition for a sustainable structure able to continue despite reduced municipal support. Alliances have the best chance of forming sustainable structures when they involve both the strategic and the operational level.

Even though many evaluations have been conducted to capture the process of interventions, little attention has been given to the challenges facing the outcomes of the intervention when it comes to making permanent the activities for reducing health inequalities. This paper is an attempt to deal with these challenges.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of Public Health in licensing following The Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act of 2011, which added ‘health bodies’ as responsible authorities in licensing; in practice, Directors of Public Health undertook this role in England. Despite this legislation facilitating the inclusion of public health in partnerships around licensing, wide variations in involvement levels by public health professionals persist.

This paper is based on the findings from interviews that explored the experiences of public health professionals engaging with local established partnerships around alcohol licensing. Qualitative data were collected through 21 interviews in a purposeful sample of London boroughs. These data were combined with analyses of relevant area documentation and observations of 14 licensing sub-committee meetings in one London borough over a seven-month period. Thematic analysis of all data sources was conducted to identify emerging themes.

This study highlighted the importance of successful navigation of the “contested space” (Hunter and Perkins, 2014) surrounding both public health practice and licensing partnerships. In some instances, contested spaces were successfully negotiated and public health departments achieved an increased level of participation within the partnership. Ultimately, improvements in engagement levels of public health teams within licensing could be achieved.

The paper explores a neglected aspect of research around partnership working and highlights the issues arising when a new partner attempts to enter an existing partnership.

Transitions for young people with intellectual disabilities have received much attention from researchers. Little is known, however, about how mental health services link with existing transition partnerships and what the potential service gaps are for young people with intellectual disabilities. Eight mental health professionals in three local authorities in Wales were interviewed to sketch potential research themes in this area. Our findings revealed a remarkable lack of engagement of mental health professionals with transition partnerships for young people with intellectual disabilities, and significant service gaps. The insufficient integration of mental health services in transition planning may contribute to disruptive transitions for young people with intellectual disabilities and their carers. Further research should examine how best to involve mental health services in transition partnerships for young people.